Monday, March 9, 2015

Bangladesh are
minnows and I kept posting that 42 preliminary matches would be of little
consequence. Not many know the
statistics that Bangladesh have in fact won 88 One dayers [it is other fact
that they have lost 206 !]

Today, Jordan was
run out, dismissed following a close review decision call at Adelaide. England head coach Peter Moores
was unhappy with the decision on Jordan, which occurred with England on 238-8
and needing 38 runs from 24 balls.
Jordan was judged out, with third umpire Simon Fry deeming he did not
have the appropriate amount of the bat on the ground when the bails were
disturbed.

Chasing 276, at the
end of 47 overs, England were 245/8 – 31 needed from 18 balls. It was Taskin Ahmed. It was 1 – 6 by Broad over midwicket – 2 leg
byes – 1(no ball waist high fulltoss) -
2 – 1 – 1 (15 runs) and just 16 required off 12. Rubel Hossain then bowled Broad off the
first delivery, which was 142 kph and then off the third knocked out Anderson
and England .

Way back on
that black Sunday Tsunami day at Dhaka (26.12.2004) Bangladesh beat India
by the same margin – we would call that a depleted side sans Tendulkar, Dravid,
Harbhajan and Pathan – still it was a win, a historic win for Bangladesh. Then in 2007 WC, a government ban on public
gatherings was forgotten in Bangladesh as thousands of jubilant fans celebrated
into the wee hours after the national cricket team's shock World Cup victory
over India. Fakhruddin Ahmed, the head
of the military-led government, joined the late-night crowd to congratulate the
Bangladesh team on their historic feat.

More importantly,
Bangladesh have qualified for the first timed and England are out of the World
Cup, their abject challenge foundering once again with Bangladesh their latest
tormentors. England, after fulfilling
what will now be a hollow final match against Afghanistan, will return home to
recriminations. This was the World Cup
that the Ashes were moved for, leading to a 5-0 thrashing last winter and all
manner of painful recriminations. England have been able to defeat just
Scotland in this tournament and after being thrashed by Australia, New Zealand
and Sri Lanka they have now been humbled by a team in Bangladesh.

Other than
Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada, Nederlands, UAE , Ireland,– Bangla has won 8 agaisnt New Zealand; 7 against West Indies,
4 against Lanka, 3 against India and England; 1 against Australia, Pakistan and
South Africa.